Back Stabbers
by astropotter661
Summary: When you live the dream, something always seems to turn around and stab you in the back. So when a friend turns on him, a new enemy surfaces and Metro City is forced into lockdown, Astro feels pretty stabbed. Soon enough, he will be the only one left to fight the war. Soz about changing the title, but I had a light bulb last night.
1. Prologue

**(AN) So... hi! This is my first ever story so I hope you like it!**_  
_

**PROLOGUE**

_Click._

"Robot saves city when peacekeeper loses control-"

_Click._

"Robot child destroys peacekeeper when President Stone-"

_Click._

"Robot know as 'Astro' defeats peacekeeper and saves Metro City-"

_Click._

"President Stone under arrest when robot hero know as Astro saves-"

_Click._

"And we are all wondering, who is this robot?"

_Click._

The interior of the room was plunged into a sudden darkness as the screen was switched off. The occupants of the chamber dared not to do so much as breathe to disturb the silent atmosphere. They seemed to be waiting for something, a command, or a dismissal.

And still the darkness pressed in, hovering over them like a foul cloud of fear and misery, embracing their faces, caressing them, a dangerous predator with only one message: _Nobody leaves._

Hours seemed to pass in the few minutes of silence with the darkness laughing noiselessly at them, trailing its icy fingers across their throats. In unison, they all gulped, save one who smiled, eyes glinting in the darkness and silence, savouring it. Until it was broken.

"My… my lady?"

"Hmm?"

"What… what should we do? Do about… about… this…?"

"I would have thought that was quite clear, 807."

Her voice was high and cold, with with a trace of a sneer in it. It was clear, to all who heard, that she considered herself above such people, who questioned her and failed to understand what was going on. Who, to many, always seemed to be there when least needed, who never seemed to know what to do.

"I-I don't-I don't think I-I understand, my-my lady."

The speaker was trembling now, their eyes downcast, their knees knocking together and their voice an octave higher than normal.

"Well, perhaps we should… how should I say it? Teach you? Assist you? Get the message into your tiny little brain that _I should never be questioned?"_

Her last few words were spoken with such ferocity that the speaker whimpered and cowered down in their seat, arms over their head as if to protect from an oncoming blow.

"But here me when I say this."

A shriek filled the muggy and pressing air. The already-recoiling speaker drew back in unconcealed horror as he (for it was a male who had had the guts to speak) heard the woman's voice in a drawn out whisper by his ear.

"This is what we have been waiting for," she hissed, her voice betraying impatience and excitement, "Stone has been arrested. Metro City is still in shock, and we did not have to do anything to blow cover to do this. The peacekeeper has been destroyed, Tenma will be taking time off work for his so-called _son." _she spat out the last word, disgust now evident in her tone. "We have a one way ticket to getting 657 to the top of Metro city."

She fell back then, silently daring anyone else to question her.

The same man spoke again. And the rest of the people in the room could feel the anger radiating off her in waves. All of them flinched, and a sharp intake of breath could be heard around the room as he continued with his question.

"But what of… the robot, my lady? Astro?"

"I am well aware of that particular bump in the road, 807. However, if this should brighten your ever dreary and questioning mood, he is a robot, is he not?"

"I-I-yes… my lady?"

"And I take, it, 807, that robots can be deactivated?"

"Oh, yes my lady, yes of course I never-oh yes-"

"SILENCE YOU PATHETIC FOOL! IF YOU EVEN _HAVE_ THE BRAINS, THEN LISTEN TO ME NOW! NEVER QUESTION ME AGAIN! _DO YOU HERE ME?! NEVER! AGAIN!"_

Silence. A silence even more terrible than the first. Cold and harmful, ready to tear off their heads and cut off their tongues if they so much as breathed. The trembling man lay on the floor, tears silently pouring down his face. Tears of shame, fear and hopelessness. The others in the room stared around with wide eyes, trying to make out shapes in the darkness.

_Thump._

A woman shrieked, standing up and waving her arms about as if to ward off ghosts.

_Beep._

Another shriek, and a laugh. The woman turned toward where she believed the wall to be, away from the others.

"General Mondager? Yes, this is the boss. I need some troops down here to get 807, and I will need an executioner ready to have his head. Oh I know it's his day off, just get him in there, will you? Do anything you can, just get 807 killed. Huh? What for? Am I hearing right General? Are you questioning _my _authority? No? No? Good. Lets remember our place here. I gave you the spot of General, and I can easily take it away," she snapped her fingers, "just like that."

807 cried out, his sobs more evident.

"Oh yes, and call in 657. Tell him that he has a job to do."

She ended the call, finality in her tone. She flicked on the light, looking with slight amusement as her eyes adjusted at the shaking people around her.

"What are you doing still here? Get out!"

Without hesitation, everyone made for the door, pushing and shoving each other over in their haste to escape. The woman's eyes strayed to the man shivering on the floor, and then back up to the door, which was now vacant of terrified people, but where two guards stood, straight and respectful, eyes downcast.

"He's all yours," she said, pushing past them and out into the corridor. The first nodded, stepped into the room and grabbed 807 by the neck.

And he began to scream.

**Sooo... Whaddya think? Tell me if I should keep going with it (but I will anyway :D)**


	2. Promises

**Thanks to starglimmer14 for new title inspiration! So this is chapter 1, so I hope you ****like it!**

**Astro's POV**

Four days.

Four whole days and nights. Plus a half.

God I was young.

But it didn't really matter. Cause nobody knew.

What would Cora think? If she knew how old I was?

She'd freak.

Holding the image of Cora having a mini spaz attack in my head, I pushed open the door to my room. After I'd battled the peacekeeper, there had been a billion reporters wanting to talk to me. Get the inside picture of the robot that saved everyone. Dad, though, had been the one who had saved _me. _He'd told them to bug off or face it. I didn't know what he meant by face it, but I don't think I would have liked it. I don't think _anyone _would have. But he had brought me back here, and then had rushed off to the ministry to figure out what to do. So I was here now. Reliving painful memories, in this room. It was still the same as when I had left it, dad hadn't done anything since he had… had kicked me out. I shivered.

_It's okay. _The voice in my head assured. _He accepts you. He told you he loved you._

But that still didn't stop me from worrying. How did I know? How can I tell if he really wants me, or if he just felt bad for turning me off? How will I be able to tell?

I walked across the room, and ran my hand back and forth across the cover of the bed. It was so smooth. Smooth and neat and tidy. Just like Toby.

Toby.

It stung. That name. I never wanted to hear it again. Toby. I was _not _Toby. I am Astro. Not Toby. Not a single, little bit like him. At all.

I'd hardly noticed that I'd dislodged the cover of the bed slightly. An idea hitting me, I shoved it off, half of it falling o the floor in a cotton mess. Grinning slightly, I went to the wardrobe. I flung the door open wide, so it hit the wall with a smash. I looked.

Oops. Hole in the wall. I could see right through to the other side.

Dad is going to kill me.

Abandoning the problem, I looked in the wardrobe. Clothes. Neat, ironed clothes in colour order. I grabbed a T-shirt, looked at it, and chucked it on the floor. Toby had liked it. So I refuse to like it. I will never, ever, ever like it. Even though I was supposed too. I was programmed to. But I won't. I am _me._ I refuse to like Toby-T-shirts.

I laughed. I picked out another T-shirt and threw it on the floor. I went through the whole wardrobe this way.

Trying to find something to wear.

Eventually, all the clothes were out. There were two things left in the cupboard.

A black T-shirt. And a pair of jeans.

Coincidence that the two clothing items that Toby hated and never wore would be the last two things left in the wardrobe?

It was fate.

Destiny.

I cracked up then. Pulling the clothes on, I turned around to face the mess on the floor.

Victory.

Good triumphs over evil once again.

Good, of course, being mess, disorganisation. Things happening in the moment.

Surprises. No plans.

I loved that.

I wondered if dad would be disappointed in me. If he was sad that I was to unlike who I was supposed to be. I pictured him in my head, forming his exact words he would probably say, his concerned face, his little beard I was always telling him to shave off.

'_Son.' _That's right, he'd start off al slow, like he was announcing someone's death or something. '_I am extremely disappointed in you. You are to you. I'm sorry. I'll have to turn you o-'_

Damn you Astro! Don't think like that! You have to remember that he loves you. He does he does he does.

But I couldn't make myself believe it. I had to talk to him. Find out why he did what he… did. Convince myself that it wasn't a dream. That it was real. And still is. It has to be.

Sighing, I walked over and flopped down on my quilt-vacated bed. I closed my eyes, and wandered off in my head, letting my thought take me wherever they wanted to go.

My first thought was of the day. The long, long day that had practically been the turning point in my life. The stage where I went from slightly-not-normal to completely-not-at-all-normal. I replayed the events in my head backwards like some kind of rewinding movie. The alien had been a breeze. After I'd hit it, and I hadn't meant to hit _that _hard… but it went flying backwards through the air and back to where it came from. People had congratulated me, and told me what a great punch it was and a couple of guys were saying that they could have hit it harder and sent it a little further.

I snorted.

As if.

Then, of course, the whole peacekeeper thing, where I died, but didn't. Where I had finally gotten rid of Stone and his obsession with the red core. Where the giant robot had used me as some kind of human-sized baseball…

I grimaced.

I am _never _playing baseball again.

And then… the robot games. Where Hamegg had found out what I was, and exposed me to Widget and Sludge, Zane… and

Cora.

Cora Cora Cora. I'm so sorry. I tried to tell you.

I did. I promise.

I was halfway off the bed with a half formed idea of visiting Cora before my hand face palmed and I remembered that she had just found her parents after who knows how long. They'd be having a party or something, or a tearful emotional catch up.

Not really something I want to burst in on.

What was I thinking, anyway? She might not like me. Hate me. I was a robot after all. Maybe she just saw me like one, like a pile of metal and bolts and fancy technology ready to be thrown out at a moments notice. I cringed.

Oh please please please let her understand. I couldn't bear it if she didn't. I don't know why though. Why she was no more special to me then Zane and the others? Nothing more than a great friend, a shoulder to cry on, a person to celebrate with.

That's what friends are for, right? To be there for you? To laugh with you, to hurt with you? To love them as friends, and nothing else?

Then why was I always thinking about Cora? I shivered mentally. Even the name made me want to see her. Maybe I was a stalker. An obsessor. Someone you run away screaming from.

Nah, Astro. You're normal. Normal as you could be. Which isn't much.

But I would visit her tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow.

Just then, the door, opened. And the person standing there was the one and only Dr Tenma. My dad.

"Hey, son. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine dad. How are _you?"_

I meant it. He looked like he was about to drop dead. There were dark shadows under his eyes, and his mouth formed a single, haggard line.

"I'm fine, son. Just a little trouble at the ministry of science 's all."

I refused to be bumped off. "Like what?"

He sighed, and then smiled. "Your less like Toby than I realised."

I was glowing inside. And I think something in my head was doing the conga.

He wasn't upset that I wasn't like his own biological son.

He was pleased. Happy. Proud of me. I think. Probably.

"We were just having a hard time trying to fix the power circuit that supplies the city with electricity and keeps it in the air," he continued, "unfortunately, it's going to take us some time to get the city floating again."

Well, that sounded reasonable enough. With all the new technolo-

Wait.

Floating?

"Dad..." I started, slowly rolling each word off my tongue, "did you say… back in the air?"

He looked surprised. "Well, of course! You wouldn't expect us to stay here in this junkyard?"

Seriously? The top scientists of all time wanted to keep living the way that they had been for the past hundred years? Polluting the earth and creating more robots to do everything for them?

"Dad. Don't get the city back up. Stay down here. And start fixing things." I spoke so deeply and seriously, it surprised us both. Dad looked at me his eyes wide.

"You want to stay… on the surface?"

No dad. I'm just kidding around here. That's why I'm talking all serious and official.

"Yes dad."

"With all the… pollution? And rubbish? And… everything?" He spoke hesitantly, as if afraid I would jump out and bite him.

"Of course. We caused this, we should fix it. The only way the pollution will stop is if we do something about it. There are people down here, to dad. Millions of 'em. Living on the surface."

His eyes widened even more, if possible.

"There… are?" He paused for a heartbeat, and then continued. "I'll discuss it with the others. Maybe it is time for change." He smiled at me, lifting his arms above his head and walking over to the bed and sitting down beside me. He sighed again, but a happier sigh, more content.

"Sooo," he said, eyes glinting, "I hear you go by Astro now?"

"Yeah" I said, looking at him. "Anything wrong with that?"

He let out a bark of laughter, and I jumped. Since when did my dad laugh?

"Of course there's no problem! It suits you."

"Thanks, dad," I said quietly.

We lapsed into silence. A friendly silence. I stared at my feet for a minute, before looking up.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you… do you care that I'm a… a, sorta-"

"Robot?"

"Yeah."

He smiled at me. "No, Astro. You are my son, and I love you whether you are a robot or not. Don't think for a minute that I would care less because of what you are. It's _who _you are, Astro, that determines whether you should be liked, hated… you feel, Astro. You feel like any of us, more than us. You are human in everything you do and are. It's what makes you so unique, so _you._ Because when you're being you, I feel like the happiest person alive, and I never want you to be something you're not. "

He smiled, and yawned, getting up and rubbing my head. He hesitated slightly when there was no hair to dislodge, but continued anyway. I looked up at him and grinned, the glowing feeling inside of me increasing to bursting point. But there was still one more thing I had to ask.

"You promise?"

"I promise. Right down to the bottom of my heart and back. Always."

I smiled.

"Well… I'll see you later. You get some rest. You deserve it." He smiled again, and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Wow. So he really did love me. He cares about me, accepts me. Doesn't care that I'm a robot. I sat up on the bed, and laughed. Laughed until I felt I would cry.

I looked out the window, where the sun was starting to set. The sky was streaked with red and yellow, and the sun glared and shone, boasting it's last light before the end of the day. My breath caught in my throat. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The sky was on fire. An orange inferno, raging, setting the sky alight with flame. It burnt through the sky, the colours blending in to one another. I watched it as the sun set, the shades dancing, before it went out, in the same way someone would blow out a candle.

And then the stars came out, twinkling and laughing, providing a calmer and sweeter atmosphere than the roaring of the sun before. The way they flashed, shone, it all reminded me of Cora… and her eyes, the way the showed happiness without her having to smile, the way they accused you when you had done something to hurt her.

And for some reason, I got the feeling that she would have wanted me to come and see her today.

I promise, Cora. I promise that I'll come and see you. And I'll say I'm sorry.

And I promise that nothing, nothing, will ever, ever hurt you.

**Ta da! Just a couple of things on this chap, it might have been a bit boring, and I'm sorry about that, but it's just a kind if ****getting it going chapter, setting it up y'know? Also, I was kind of debating whether I should do it in first or third person, but I kinda decided I'd stick with first for now.**

**So that's about it, I hope you liked it and please review!**


	3. I ruin some perfectly good spaghetti

**OH MY GOSH I am so sorry! I think I zonked out last chapter and completely forgot to do this!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You made my day, and I've been feeling horrible ever since I put out the second but first chapter because you guys are so awesome and I didn't say thank you!**

**I am so soorrryyy!**

**Anyways, thank you again to everyone who reviewed, and also thank you to everyone who read it!**

**Chapter three! (Drum roll dumdumdumdumdumduuummmmm)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Astro Boy ( You ruined the drum roll ):**

**Cora's POV**

So here I am.

Waiting for a prince charming that might never come.

I hated this. Hated waiting, hated feeling so helpless.

But who am I kidding? He might not like me. Hate me. I was completely furious when he didn't tell me what he was. I'd completely overlooked that he'd tried to tell me. I'd just felt angry. And betrayed. And I didn't look to see why I _should _be. Because he had been so nice. So human. And I'd hated him.

Oh Astro Astro Astro I'm so sorry. You tried to tell me. And I had been too stupid to just let it go.

After the robot games, I realised that all I had wanted was for him to be there, with his friendly smile and his chocolate eyes that seemed to go right through me. I didn't care that he was a robot. And I never would. I still wondered, though, why he didn't tell me. Maybe he knew that Hamegg would put him in the games if he did. Or maybe he was scared that we wouldn't like him after he told us. Probably the latter. It happened anyway. Both of them did.

When we'd found him, and rescued him from the giant robot that was about to crush him into millions of pieces, I'd thought that everything was going to be fine again. He was with us. And he wasn't angry with us; sad that we had rejected him… he'd just said 'thanks.' And then, he'd gone to save the city as it was about to hit the ground and probably kill a lot of people.

But he had stopped it. Carried it down to the to safety. And I'd felt like I was going to fall down to the ground and smash into pieces myself. Astro could carry a _city?_ Like, all the way down to the _ground?_

It was unreal. Not natural.

…Oh yeah… that's right. He's a robot. He can do those things. I'm so stupid.

But then he had died. And the world that had suddenly become a rainbow filled fancy-land because of Astro came crashing down. And I wondered if somebody was out to get me. It was like picking a beautiful flower only to find out later that it was poisonous. Because that was what life seemed like to me. When I had found Hamegg, I'd felt like I had finally found something good. And then we found Astro, and it went from good to wonderful.

But then he died.

And it had felt like half of me had been ripped off again.

But then ZOG healed him, and everything became a mega-rainbow filled fancy-land again.

-zizizizizizizzizizizizizizzi zizizizizizzizizizizizizzizi ziziziziz-

I felt betrayed.

My parents were making me eat spaghetti.

_With _meatballs.

I mean, I was only their daughter, right? They could at least have at least _tried _not to kill me? And, as a plus, they had just found me. Today. After… after…eight years. Eight years that I had been living on the surface, and six that I had been living with Hamegg. And two days with Astro. Not counting today. The day that everything went haywire and it had felt like nature had turned on itself. Because Astro was a robot.

But I wasn't going to think of that. I didn't _care._ I didn't care that he wasn't human, that maybe he couldn't feel…

Don't don't don't! Think of something else…

Gee. I love potatoes.

I snorted into my dinner, and my mother looked at me disapprovingly, before her face broke into a smile. I'd been keeping count. She hadn't managed to stay angry with me for more than two point four seconds.

"So, sweetie," her voice was dripping with sweetness and cheerfulness, like honey on sugar. But you didn't know when the bees were going to come and get you, "how do you feel?"

How did I feel? How did I _feel?_ I had a mini war going on in my head! What should I think about? Astro or potatoes? It was the challenge of the century! A million dollars if you won! But it had that unfair advantage where the people around you always seemed to be bringing up one of the subjects.

"I'm fine. Better, actually. I didn't- before- I never…" I didn't know what to say. Something sappy? Something cheerful? What do you say when you haven't seen your parents for eight years?

"I know sweetie." My mum reached out and cupped my face in her hand, eyes drinking me in greedily as if she would never see me again. My father nodded, and reached across the table and took my hand. It reminded me of before, when they had taken me away from the crowds and battlegrounds after everything was over. After they had made me tell them about everything that had happened to me, and how they had told me they had looked for me everywhere, had missed me so much they would spend most nights just sitting together and crying or staring numbly at the floor, memories playing over and over in their heads like movies. It horrified me that they had spent so much of their time on this, I mean, of course it was normal that they were upset, but spending hours sitting, crying and staring at the ground? They had practically been wasting their lives. But they promised me now that we would do everything. Go everywhere. All the things we would have done in the time lost.

After we'd talked, they'd just sat there, staring at me, holding my hands, hugging me, crying until it seemed like they would have no tears left to fall. And I'd found myself crying with them. Until mum had broken the trance and started cooking dinner.

Spaghetti and Meatballs.

Lovely.

They took their hands away and started eating again. I let out a long sigh, and realised with a start I hadn't been breathing. My heart was thumping in my chest at a slightly accelerated pace, and my hands shook slightly as I lifted the fork to my mouth to consume another horrible mouthful.

Maybe I could fake an allergy? Some kind of dramatic, fall to the floor, eyes rolled back in head and frothing at the mouth thing? Or maybe I could go for some kind of trance, or possession from a weird being from outer space. Anything to not have to eat this. It was vile. Terrible. Awful-

"So what do you think of that robot?"

Disgusting. Repulsive. Horri-

_Clang._

My fork fell to the floor. My parents both looked at me, and I jumped down to grab it, taking extra time for the blush to leave my face. Robot? Were they talking about Astro? They couldn't have been. My mother had sounded to disdainful when she said _that robot._ They couldn't be talking about him that way. He had saved their lives. Twice. Everyone's lives. They must have a new housebot, or something. Or maybe a robot got in their way and annoyed them. Convinced that this would be right, I sat back up at the table, where my parents had resumed their discussion.

"He does seem a bit, I don't know, I guess-"

"Who?"

The question came out of nowhere. It had sprung out of my mouth of it's own accord, but I didn't regret it. I waited for the answer, half dreading that it would be what I had I had feebly convinced myself was wrong.

"The robot. The one that save the city." They were watching me now, confused smiles on their faces. My heart dropped. I could swear I heard it thump as it hit the floor, by my shoes.

_Keep calm. You don't know what they mean yet._

"Wha-what about him?"

_Stay calm, Cora. Keep cool. They weren't really saying horrible things about him, they were just… just…_

What had they been saying about him?

"Oh… we just think it's a bit extreme dear, leaving the protection of the city to a _robot._ And how do we even know that he's actually good? What if the peacekeeper had stood in his way of achieving something, and now that it's destroyed, he'll go on to do something horrible? I don't know, Cora, but entrusting the city's safety to a robot seems a bit rash. Especially when he has no feelings and such things like that. How can he care about the city?"

"Because he's different." It came from nowhere again. And I definitely, absolutely, did not regret it.

"He's special. He actually does feel, and he only got rid of the peacekeeper to save _you, _and everyone in the city who hadn't done anything. The city is in the safest hands possible, with Astro. He'll never hurt you, or anyone, or… me."

They looked at each other, disbelieving smiles on their faces. My mother turned back to me, her expression soft, pitiful.

"And what is he to you, dear?"

"My best friend." _And, if I looked, I think I might find something else._

The thought came to me suddenly. What if… what if… was I…

Was I in _love_ with Astro?

I couldn't be. I'd only known him for what, three days? Two, not counting today. But how could I explain this? This feeling? This warm glow inside of me, flourishing and building with every passing second? Was that what it was? Is this love? I'd never had this feeling before. Where his face seemed to flash past my vision every two seconds, where I was fantasising about his arms around me, holding me, keeping me safe. Where I felt like half of me was missing when he wasn't there, beside me. But would he feel the same? I had been horrible to him before. I hadn't looked at him. I had refused to forgive him for not telling me.

But now, it was behind me. That grudge had grown old. When I had seen him, fighting that robot, all of my suspicions, my uncertainties had been confirmed. I didn't care. I didn't care whether he was human or robot, animal or machine. Or potato.

Where were all these potatoes coming from?

My parents looked at each other again, though less cheerful. My mother, again, turned to me, her eyes hard and chilling me to the bone.

"What do you mean… friend?"

Whoopsie, mum, you forgot the best. And even though I didn't mention it, the feeling I had about him whenever I heard his name.

That feeling that we humans call '_love'._

"I met him," I said, keeping my voice calm and light, "on the surface. We didn't know what he was. He didn't tell us. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure he had good reason." I frowned, slightly, but not enough so that my parents, who were watching me warily now, could see. Why hadn't he told us? The question kept popping up. I'd ask him later. If… if… I saw him again.

"Go on," my father prompted. I hadn't realised that I had stopped talking.

"Oh, right." I shook my head to clear it of any of the thoughts of before, and resumed my tale. "He stayed with us for a while. And we all liked him, he was so nice and gentle. It was so easy to talk to him, and though I had only just met him, I felt like I had known him for years."

Their smiles were strained, now, and their fists were clenched around their forks. Purposefully ignoring this, I continued.

"He tried to tell us. A few times. But he never could. Until Hamegg- you remember Hamegg, right?" they both nodded. "Well, Hamegg found out, and put him in the robot games, and then these Metro City guys came down from the sky and took him away. Then, I'm guessing, something must have happened, and the next time I saw him he was battling the peacekeeper."

They nodded again. My father, his voice as strained as his smile, spoke. "You were that girl, weren't you? Who cried over him when he died, who he… ahem, showed fondness to when he came back to life?"

I. Think. I. Want. To. Murder. Someone. My father thought that Astro was so low that he would revert to the words 'showed fondness'? Instead of 'hugged'? What had I missed in the time I had been away from the city, from them? When had my parents become so anti-robot?

"He was the only one who knew, you know. That I came from Metro City. That I had run away." For some reason, I had to say this. To show them how much I trusted Astro, the boy I had known for two days, more than my 'family', who I had know for years. But it had the opposite effect on my mum and dad.

"WHAT?" Dad exploded, "YOU MEAN YOU TRUSTED THIS, THIS, THIS _MACHINE_ WITH SOMETHING LIKE THAT MORE THEN A FELLOW HUMAN BEING?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

I think I wanted to have that allergy now. Or that alien possession. But I was pretty furious too.

"HE'S NOT JUST A MACHINE! HE HAS LIVING, FEELING THOUGHTS AND AS MY PARENTS I WOULD HAVE WANTED YOU TO AT LEAST HAVE SHOWN MORE RESPECT TO MY BEST FRIEND, TO THE GUY THAT SAVED YOUR LIFE!"

"Cora Avery Liafran, you sit down and stop yelling right now." Her voice was quite, buy it leaked danger and fear, warning me to do as I was told before everything exploded.

But I never do what my mother tells me to do. Ever.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T KNOW HIM! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE WENT THROUGH, WHAT HE'S DONE. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE IS AND-"

"WELL I DON'T CARE CORA!" My father was practically yelling the roof down now, "HE IS A _ROBOT!_ HE IS NOT _HUMAN!_ WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO UNDERSTAND THAT?"

"I DO! I KNOW WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE IS AND JUST BECAUSE HE'S A ROBOT IT DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T LOVE HIM OR-"

A sharp intake of breath. Both of them looked at each other, and back at me. In this moment of tense silence, I realised that we had all gotten up out of our chairs while we were shouting. Another breath. And another. What had I said? What did I do? I thought back. What _had _I said to get them so silent, so serious?

Oh no.

No no no no no. Oh please no.

Did I say that?

Did I say love?

Nice move, smarty. Now they're definitely going to kill me.

"Cora," her voice was quiet. And it scared me more than the yelling had, "did you say… what I thought you said?"

I can't back out now. And there's no point in lying either. Because it's true. It really is.

I am in love with Astro.

"So what if I did?" I said stiffly.

"What exactly… do you mean by it?" my dad said slowly.

"I would have thought it was clear enough. I…" I have to say it. Tell them. Because I am. I am I am I am.

"I… I'm in… I'm in… I…" I was reminded suddenly of Astro, that night on the hood of Hamegg's car. When he had tried to tell me his secret, but couldn't say it. "I kind of… I'm love with him."

My mum looked like she was about to faint. My father though, was livid.

"YOU STUPID GIRL!" he exploded again, "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? I THOUGHT THIS WAS CLEAR! HE IS A _ROBOT!_ HE DOESN'T FEEL, DOESN'T- ARGH HE'S NOT HUMAN CORA!"

"I DON'T CARE!" I would yell at them all day. Forever. Until they understood who and what Astro was. And what he was to me.

"I DON'T CARE!" I said again. My bowl of spaghetti went cartwheeling down to the ground, crashing on the floor. The bowl smashed, and the food splattered out right and left. We all stared at it, before my father turned to me. He walked slowly around the table, until he stood towering over me. He stared down, and I willed myself not to shake under his gaze.

"Stupid. Girl." I flinched. He had said that to me. Before. Eight years before.

And then he reached out and hit me.

My mother shrieked, and the shock registered numbly in my head. Memories surfaced, and the tears started to stream down my face. I pushed past my father, and ran. My mother called my name, as she had so many years ago, but I didn't listen. I ran and ran, away from my parents, not looking where I was going.

_I looked at him. They were staring at me, furious._

I was running. Wherever I could. I was blinded though. My head was reeling and I couldn't think.

"_Stupid girl." I began to cry. He had never called me anything before. My mother hesitated, and reached for him. He shrugged her off. And then he hit me._

Running. Crying. Hurting. Breaking. Running.

_I was running. Out the door, out into the corridor. My mother was screaming behind me, but I kept running. Down the elevator. Through the lobby. Out. Free. Running. Crying. Hurting. Breaking._

_Why why why?_

_What had I done? _

_Running. Crying. Hurting. Breaking. Running. Shattering._

_Falling. Catch me catch me I'm falling. Falling. Falling. Breaking._

I was in my room. How, I didn't know. Why, I didn't care. I fell on to my bed, letting the tears shake me, the memories seize me.

_It was dark and cold. I was surrounded by trash. Where were my parents? And then I remembered. Running. Crying. How did I end up here? How was I still alive?_

I was breaking. Falling. Running. Crying. Breaking breaking breaking. Not again. Again again again.

_Stupid girl.  
_

_Stupid stupid stupid._

What had I done? Why didn't they care about me?

_Running crying hurting breaking._

Why why why?

_They didn't want me._

_Hurting hurting hurting._

It's the same as before. Same same same.

They hit me. Called me stupid.

Why why why?

Running. Crying. Hurting. Breaking.

_Crying. Lonely. I am alone. Help me help me. Alone. I am alone. Someone find me. I am lost._

Lost lost lost. Crying. Hurting. Why why why?

_Don't hurt me. Please please please. Hurting. Lonely._

_"Who are you?" _

_Scared. Scared scared scared. There is a boy looking at me. He reached out his hand._

_Oh no. No no no no please. Don't hurt me._

_Running crying. Why why why?_

_"Come back!"_

_No no no! Never ever coming back! _

_Hurting. Crying. Hurting too much._

Like before. Before. Eight years ago. Why why why? I thought they wanted me. Crying. Hurting.

Astro, please. Come and save me.

-zizizizizizizzizizizizizizzi zizizizizizzizizizizizizzizi ziziziziz-

"Cora?" my door opened. My mum stood there. I pretended to be asleep.

Don't talk to me. Leave me alone. I am asleep. Leave me alone. Alone alone alone.

Why was I always alone?

She left. I lay on my bed, not moving. Soon enough, I fell asleep.

_I was watching Astro, and he was watching me. His face was inches from mine, and he was smiling one of his smiles that made me tingle and feel like the happiest person ever. He reached out his arm, and took my hand in his. He lent closer. My breath caught in my throat. We were so close. I closed my eyes, waiting, waiting…_

_Nothing. I opened them, and the scene had changed. Astro lay motionless a few feet away from me. And something told me he was dead. I couldn't take my eyes off him. They were glued to his face. The face that I had loved. I felt someone beside me. It was my mother. I don't know how I knew, but I did. And she was laughing. There were people everywhere, laughing. I ran forward and tried to get to him, but I couldn't. And everyone was laughing, laughing… and then there was a flash of red. And I was floating in darkness. Alone. Alone alone alone._

I woke up. Sweat plastered my forehead, and I could feel the ever present tears in my eyes. I was shaking from the dream. I curled up into a ball and willed myself to fall asleep again. But half of me didn't want to, because I knew sleep would bring on the nightmares again.

**Ta da! I can say now, I got very depressed writing this chapter *chokes* But we must move on *cries* from the things that hurt us *sobs***

**So, number one, well done Cora, three/four hours with your parents and already at war with them, world record. I know a lot of the Astro Boy stories have Cora's parents hating Astro, but I'm just saying now, that hatred plays a pretty big part in my actual plot. So I swear I haven't copied or anything. Also, if you want to know Cora's 'story' it'll be in the next chapter, or the one after. Also, I will explain what happened to Zane and all them. :)  
**

**Number two: I HATE MYSELF! CORA'S DAD IS TOO HORRIBLE! Why why why why why?**

**Number three: Cora has nightmares pretty much every night. And they're all very realistic. What could they mean? Mwa haahahha!**

**Number four: These past two chapters are happening at the exact same time, after the battle with the alien, around 7/8 at night. Also, Cora's hatred of spaghetti is very random. There are no hidden meanings in that, or anything. :)**

**So that's all for now! Thank you again kind reviewers, and may the odds be ever in your favour. And may the force be with you. Love ya's!**


	4. Fairytales

**So here's the next chapter. Ta da! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I had actually intended to have this other bit in it, but I just thought, hey, I haven't updated in ages, and this next bits gonna take forever. So the story has one extra chapter then when it was first planned! And I also figured out how to use line breaks, so goodbye ziziziz thingies. 'Yaayy.' Anyhoo, enjoy! **

* * *

**Astro's POV**

ARGH!

Bright! Too bright!

The sun fell through the window, and was splayed out on my bed. And it was right in my face. I blinked a couple of times, and the light went down a bit as my eyes adjusted. It registered in my head that I must have fallen asleep. I was still wearing the clothes from yesterday. I wondered if I should change, but decided I couldn't really be bothered. I had hardly worn them anyway. Blinking still, I tried recounting the events of the previous day. My mind was a blur for a minute, and I lay there, trying to think. And then it hit me, and I jerked awake with a start. I rolled over, and

_Thump._

I fell. Straight off the bed, and onto the floor. Come_ on. _I had just saved the city. Someone was having a good laugh today. Muttering under my breath, I stood up and made my way over to where I usually did my hair. Halfway there, I remembered I didn't have too. Without stopping, I walked towards the door and opened it. I poked my head out into he hallway, and, seeing it deserted, made my way out. I stretched, just because I could. Though dad had tried making me as human as possible, there were some things that made me different. When I was awake, I was awake. I was never drowsy, or tired, or weary. I was always alert and ready. So I stretched for fun. I acted tired because I could. I pretended to be weary so that no one could tell what I was.

I walked down the stairs. Dad was nowhere in sight, though Orrin was busy cleaning. I could hear him humming, and I grinned.

"Hey Orrin!"

He jumped, and his small bucket of tools clattered to the ground. He spun around, his face terrified, a scream half off his lips.

"Master Astro! Please, you scared me!"

Understatement. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Sorry," I said, smiling guiltily, "I'll try not to do it again."

Orrin eyed me, cocking his head. He looked confused for a moment, before his face broke into a smile and he stood a little taller.

"You're very different to him you know," he said quietly, "Toby. He wouldn't… wouldn't have… said that, I guess."

I flinched when he said my old name, but grinned from ear to ear when he finished his sentence. Everything I'd feared, everything I'd been scared about, it all came crashing down with that one word: Different. Because if the two people who had known Toby the best told me I was different to him, then everybody would. Maybe I wasn't just a replacement. A copy. Maybe I was my own person. Not maybe. I was. I had to be.

Because if I wasn't, I wouldn't feel this way about Cora. And Zane, Widget and Sludge. And Cora. Cora Cora Cora. She was my best friend. _And maybe if I looked, I'd find something else._

The thought came to me suddenly. I thought abut it for a minute, before I gasped and raised my hands up to my head, grabbing it and turning around in circles.

Was I… was I in love with Cora? Was that this feeling? This creature inside of me, howling and whimpering when she wasn't there? This feeling, glowing and getting brighter with every passing second? Was this love? Where I was thinking about her every other moment, when I dreamt about her laughing with me, holding my hand? Was that what it was?

It had to be. But it wasn't like she felt the same. I was a robot. I couldn't feel, I couldn't love. According to a lot of people. Maybe Cora felt that way too. My heart plummeted. (Figuratively speaking) I'd have to go see her. If she hated me, she hated me. I couldn't stop her.

Orrin -obviously taking my spinning-in-circles-hands-on-head move for one of happiness, not of frustration or discovery- turned away, laughing quietly. He started cleaning, dusting off the mantelpiece as if I hadn't disturbed him. He began humming tunelessly again. I stood there for a moment, before making my way into the kitchen. A half formed thought danced across my head, and I considered getting breakfast, before deciding against it. Ever since I found out… what I was, I hadn't wanted to eat. I knew I could, but I preferred not to. Tastes were not as enhanced for me. Though I had super hearing, and x-ray vision, my taste was pathetic. Only the richest of flavours seemed to dimly register themselves. I also had no idea what happened to the food after I ate it. Before I even nibbled on something, picked a crumb off a piece of toast, I was going to find out what happened to the food. Because I was scared of what would happen. I'd have to ask dad. How many things would I have to ask dad? Could I take off my boots? Probably not. Could I run in the rain? Better not try it. I sighed. I would give anything to be human.

I looked around the kitchen, at the spotless bench tops, the five star appliances. The windows with bright sunlight streaming through them. The kitchen was perfect, like the rest of the house.

"MASTER ASTRO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR ROOM?!"

"Don't call me that," I muttered. I smiled though, remembering my dismal attempts at being a rebel from the night before. I looked out of one of the windows, and was met with a scene of people going to work, swerving around rubble and fallen buildings. Fluffy white clouds adorned a pale blue sky, and the sun hung overhead, watching the busy people like a person would watch a colony of ants. I looked past the tall buildings of the city, to the mounds of trash heaped up, in what once was the surface. A thought struck me then. What did the people of the city think of the surface?

What did they think of _me?_

Whatever they thought, I hoped it was good.

Apartment buildings sparkled as the windows were opened, and people welcomed the new day. I wondered if Cora lived in one of them. I jumped out of my seat, mentally face palming. I was going to go and visit Cora! And I had completely forgotten. I turned around in circles, before my gaze fell upon the clock on the oven.

One minute past ten.

I had time. Loads.

I raced out of the kitchen, and up the stairs. I opened the door to the bathroom. It was empty. I slammed it shut and proceeded to the next room. It was empty as well. I raced across the hallway and flung open the door to my room. Orrin was in there, picking up the clothes, and throwing horrified glances at the hole in the wall over his shoulder.

"Orrin," I said, out of breath slightly, "where's dad?"

He looked at me, a confused frown on his face.

"He's at work, Master Astro."

"Just Astro please," I said, rushing through the words so that they slurred and tumbled over each other, "Orrin, do you mind if I go out today? Out into the city?"

His frown deepened.

"Why, of course, Mas-Astro. Why are you asking me?"

"So you know where I am. See ya!" I raced out the door, not before I saw him smile and shake his head.

I ran down the stairs, tripped on the last one and went sliding across the floor. I slammed into the lounge, and lay sprawled out next to it. Shaking my head, I stood up and scooted through the kitchen, until I reached the front hallway and slowed down slightly to open the front door.

As soon as I shut it behind me, I raced forward again, past other apartment blocks and front doors until I reached the lift. I jumped in and pressed the button for the ground floor, repeatedly, as if hoping it would make it go faster. It reached the bottom after what felt like hours, and I was out again. I raced through the lobby, people staring after me and craning their necks to see what had just gone past. I ran out the door, and was met with a wave of heat. I stopped for a moment and stood there, blinking in the boiling sunlight. I walked forward, and made my way down the street. People pushed past left and right, rushing to get to wherever that had to go. Many of them were puffing, and wiping their foreheads in the heat. It had to be at least a million degrees today. I passed more people, and a couple just stopped and stared at me. I wondered why, before I remembered that I had just saved the city. Hurrying on and keen to get away from their searching gazes, I turned the corner down into another street. There were less people here, and not as many cars on the road. Letting out a sigh of relief, I walked on. A car alarm went off somewhere in the distance, before dying out. Extending my hearing, I heard a woman laughing and talking to a friend that must have been nearby.

"Don't worry, does that every time…"

Grinning despite myself, I kept going. I didn't know why, but the smallest of comments, the tiniest of gestures were the things that made it work for me. The setting, the moment. The remark someone makes when they're not intending to be funny. I listened to more conversations.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid we don't permit dogs in here."

I assumed it was a robot of some sort, maybe at a restaurant.

"Oh, it's my seeing eye dog. I'm blind, y'know?"

I laughed. Surely no one would fall for that old joke…?

"Sir?"

"Hmm?"

"Your dog is a Chihuahua."

I cracked up. A young couple hand in hand passed by with confused expressions on their faces, and a man across the street looked up from his paper. To them, nothing seemed in the least out of the ordinary, and nothing at all was funny. That just made it better. Still laughing, though not as loudly, I tuned out from the world's conversations, and made my way on. My laughing stopped abruptly as a thought struck me.

I had absolutely no idea where Cora lived.

* * *

**Cora's POV**

I woke up, the sun on my face. I had forgotten to close the curtains last night. I looked out the window, and saw an almost comical setting, something out of a fairytale. The sky was a baby blue, the sun streamed down. Fluffy little clouds chased each other across the sky. I wondered why there were no little dwarves going to work, or fairies flitting across the sky. I laughed. Yawning, I sat up and stretched. Looking down, I noticed my pillow was slightly damp. Wondering at this, I got up, and immediately saw that my clothes were still on.

"What the…"

I stopped. And stared. The peaceful morning bliss disappeared, and the events of last night took place in my head. Today was no fairytale. My breathing quickened, and my fists clenched by my sides. I looked up and out the window, where the day was already in full swing. I shook my head, trying to clear it. Last night couldn't have happened.

It didn't. It couldn't.

But it did.

I turned to the door, where it closed my room off from the outside world. Out that door were the parents that hated me. The house I'd sworn I'd never visit again. I took a step forward. What was I doing? I had no idea of what the outcome would be. Another step. What if they yelled at me again? I couldn't run away. I had nowhere to go. Another step. I had to do this. I had to. _Had to had to had to. _The thought echoed in my head. I stopped. I couldn't do this. Another step. But I will. I stopped again. No. I'm not brave enough. I can't do it. A step. Do it Cora. Just do it. I was at the door now. I stood staring at it, a war waging in my head. Before I lost the last bit of courage I had and backed out, I stuck out my hand hand and turned the handle.

No one was there. I breathed a sigh of relief, before tensing up again. There were noises out near the kitchen. Taking a deep breath and holding it, I proceeded down the hallway. I halted by the doorframe, before letting the breath go. It whistled out through my teeth, and I closed my eyes. _Do it Cora. Just get it over with._ I stepped into the kitchen and opened my eyes.

Dad was sitting there, his head in his hands. His slouched shoulders and inward turned feet made me think he hadn't gotten any sleep. Mum was busy making breakfast by the stove. Sunlight streamed through the windows and the aroma of bacon and eggs reached my nose. I breathed in deeply, stalling. I went to take a step forward, but before I could, my father looked up.

"Cora."

He crossed the room in two long strides, and embraced me in a bear hug. He pressed his face into my hair, and I could feel stray tears –or at least I thought they were tears- fall from his face.

"I'm so sorry Cora. I shouldn't have, I just, oh Cora I never, I'll make it up to you, don't know what came over-"

"Shh." I held a finger up to his lips. "It's okay. Really. Dad. It's fine."

"No it's not." His face was pained, and his eyes showed grief and something else that no words seemed able to describe.

"Yes it is. It's fine dad. Please. Just forget it. Please."

He seemed to get the hint. Mentally, I sighed in relief. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about last night.

Another pair of arms wrapped around both of us. I twisted my head to see mum hugging us, relief evident in her face, her stance. We stood there for a moment, when I had a sudden urge to just get _out._ Outside, out of this apartment where memories hung low and close, waiting to take me with them. I broke off and smiled at them.

"Do you mind… if I go out for a while? Get some air, tour the city? Please?"

They looked at each other for a moment, before mum turned to me, an understanding smile on her face.

"Of course sweetie. Go, go!"

I ran to the door, and turned back to see them both looking at me. I waved.

"See ya!"

"Bye honey!" They called as I closed the door. I took a deep breath. I was out. Walking down the hallway, I forced myself not to think about last night. To think about his morning. Where they had said sorry. Where they proved they still loved me. Striding forward with new confidence, I walked to the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

It was alright.

They were sorry.

They still cared about me.

It was alright.

I shivered, though there was no chill in the air.

And ignored that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that maybe I didn't believe them.

* * *

**So yeah, pretty short, but hey, what're ya gonna do? MWA AHAHAHA ASTRO AND CORA, YOU'RE RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES! Just figure it out and get together already!**

**Harry: That is technically impossible y'know, coz you're controlling them.**

**So what. Yeah, I forgot to mention, I know a lot of stories have the characters talking to the authors, so coz Astro's off doing his thing and worrying bout Cora and all that, I'm stuck with HP, Boy who lived. And when I get round to HP fics, I'll be stuck with Astro. But now... *groans***

**Harry: Don't sound so enthusiastic.**

**ANNNYway, that's the chapter! I just wanted to say a bit about Cora's parents, so you don't have to read it ;D. Cora's mum was raised up to hate robots, her parents were against them from the beginning. So she's the same. Cora's dad was brought up to just take robots for granted, they're just there to be used, doesn't matter if they die. They don't have feelings or anything. After the big yelling war thingy with Cora and her parents, Mr Cora's Dad decides to just go with his daughters decisions and everything, and gradually accepts Astro. Mrs Cora's Mum, however, hates him like... er... I don't know, HATES HATES HATES him more than anything and thinks her daughter is nuts. So that's it from me, and thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Harry: This could be para para paradise if everybody reviewed**

**Me: I didn't know you liked Coldplay.**

**Harry: Full of surprises.**


	5. Hugs, Dust and Vampires?

**ASTRO**

I kept walking, wracking my brains for some kind of hint, maybe a direction, or an offhand comment. But nothing popped up, and I knew that Cora's house had never come into any conversation. Sighing, I kept walking. I had no idea what to do. The thought lasted for about a second before I jerked to a stop and mentally face palmed again. I'M A DAMN ROBOT! I should be able to do this!

Shaking my head, I rounded a corner and found myself back on the main street. I wondered if I had some kind of locator, or an internal GPS…

Now _that_ would be cool.

But even if I _did_, (which I doubted) how would I use it –them? I really had to talk to dad.

I kept walking, though I didn't know why. I should probably just stop and go back, work things out from my place. But something stopped me, and I didn't feel like going back there sometime soon anyway. So I kept going, just looking at the city and the people. They rushed around me, most of them going to work or something. Some were window shopping, laughing with friends holding so many bags I wondered why they didn't just drop dead. A couple of teenage boys rolled by on skate boards, whooping and weaving in between cars. Annoyed horns filled he air after them, and I could hear people yelling from inside their vehicles.

The path ahead of me remained crowded. There were people coming out of apartments and shops, there were anxious women on their phones and men pushing past with bulky briefcases. And I hadn't met one that didn't turn around and stare at me as I passed, oblivious to other people as whoever it was crashed into them. _Just keep walking. _I told myself. _You're going to have to go though this at some point. Just start it now. _

The street seemed to be filling up more with every passing second. Soon, even walking would become the challenge of the day. Threading my way through the throng, I glimpsed -for half of a second- some kind of park ahead. Making up my mind that I would just go there, I walked on. _Why don't you just fly?_ A voice in my head said. I almost snorted, restraining it in the last second. Why don't I fly? I've got enough people giving me the google-eye right now. Grinning, I made my way forward, pushing through the people ahead. I was beaten back a bit by what seemed like a million exited shoppers, before the path cleared slightly and I went on. And stopped. As my brown eyes met a pair of crystal blue ones.

Her eyes stared back at me too. They showed shock and disbelief, and I'm sure mine did too.

"Cora?" I breathed, but it was lost in the babble of the people around me. It was. It was Cora. Cora standing there, right in front of me.

"Astro?" She mouthed back.

I stared at her for a minute. She stared back. I blinked. She blinked. I took a step forward. She did too. A million thoughts ran through my head. I wondered of she would hate me. If she would forgive me. If she would just walk away and forget.

I desperately hoped she would let me talk to her. And then she might not hate me. If she did.

Cora stared back at me, and I could see a billion thoughts flashing over her eyes. Dimly, I was aware of the people pushing past us. They seemed as if they were in slow motion, and I couldn't hear the words coming out of their mouths. My eyes just stayed locked on the girl in front of me.

I walked forward. I felt numb, like someone other than me was controlling my movements, the way my brain flowed. Like someone else knew what I had to do, and was showing me how to do it before I messed up. I was closer to her now. A foot away. She was still staring.

"Cora?" I repeated stupidly. I cringed. What should I say?

"Astro," she murmured, still in shock, "what… why… what're you… doing here?"

My head was numb. I couldn't think. Had she asked something? I seemed to be living in the past, of about a second ago. I willed my un-responding brain to catch up, and filled the painful silence, though there was noise everywhere. "Um, Walking." I said. It seemed to break the trance. Cora let out a shout of laughter, and she grinned at me. I cocked my head and smiled back, unsure of what had gotten her so worked up. She took a step forward and hugged me. I tensed up for a moment, surprised, before relaxing and hugging her back. After what felt like thousands of years, and the quickest of seconds, we broke apart. Cora still looked amazed, but shook her head and grabbed my hand. the feeling inside of me leapt up, making me feel slightly dizzy.

"Wha-?"

"Come on," she said. She dragged me along behind her, weaving in and out of the people. I went with it, wondering what she was thinking.

"Zane and the others are through here somewhere," she panted, pushing through and running along, "we can go somewhere… find them… Astro… Astro it's you… what how… Astro... what's he doing here… didn't think… what's he gonna do…?"

I got the feeling that she had completely forgotten I was there.

Finally, we arrived outside a small block of apartments, about six floors high. The building looked dank and rundown, and I could smell cigarette smoke and unwashed clothes wafting from the door. I looked it up and down, before turning to Cora, slightly confused.

"What…" I started, but stopped, because Cora was staring at me, her eyes twice the size of her face. She didn't blink, and her mouth hung open. It was very, very, incredibly very awkward, and I suddenly became aware of the searing heat again. I was about to try asking her something again, but she took a step back. I instantly stiffened. What was she going to…?

"You… you're a…"

Oh no. Please no. She didn't, she wasn't… was she? She wasn't going to freak out now, and scream and cry and who knows what else? She…

Well, of course. I should have expected it when I saw her. It wasn't like we were going to run off like old friends and forget everything. I still watched her though, and a feeling of sadness washed over me, and I took a step back too.

"I…" I trailed off, unsure what to say. Cora looked the same, but surprised me.

"Robo…" she shook her head and turned away. Her hands flew up and massaged her forehead. The feeling of sadness increased, like a stream turning into a waterfall, like light rain becoming a downfall. I took another step back, staring at Cora, my heart in my mouth… er, sorta.

"Right," I said softly, "I'll… see you… round…"

I made to walk off and leave her so she wouldn't have to be bothered by me anymore, but she turned around and surprised me again.

"NO!" She said it with such force, it stopped me in my tracks. "Don't go! Please!" She ran up to where I was standing, mouth hanging open like some kind of fish. I shut it with a snap and she grabbed my shoulders, looking me in the eye.

"Don't go Astro," she said quietly, "stay here. I'm not going to…" she closed her eyes, and shook her head.

"What?" I said softly. She opened her eyes. Her expression was pained.

"Don't laugh," I began to shake my head, ready to tell her that whatever she told me, I would not laugh at, but she lifted a finger and placed it across my lips. I looked up at her in confusion. She smiled at me sadly. I gently pushed her hand away.

"What is it, Cora?"

"I don't want you to go, Astro." She said in a strained whisper. "Before, at the games, I felt…" she turned away and took a deep breath. Turning back to me, she continued. "It's different, Astro. I don't care. Please. I'm sorry. I don't care you're a robot, and I don't want you to go, because… because I realised, when you were… dead, that I didn't care what you were, I only thought that I had lost the best friend I had ever had, and that I had… had… done nothing but hurt you. I'm sorry Astro. I'm sorry. All I wanted was for you to… be there, and I…" she trailed off, an let out a grim laugh. She shook her head, and looked at me. "I sound stupid, don't I?"

"You don't." I said. "And Cora, _I'm _sorry. It was my fault, I should have told you. It's okay, if you want to go and never look back. I understand. I'm a robot," we both winced, "and I guess… I guess that's what I'm here for." I murmur. "To help you, and other people, until…" I gulped, and didn't finish. "I'm sorry Cora. I am, really."

She stared at me, her eyes wide. I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. I hadn't said half of the things I had wanted to say, and I didn't know whether I had ruined the whole thing, if she was going to walk off and leave now, disgusted, or if she was going to get super emotional and start crying. I may be a robot but I'm still a guy. I get mega-awkward when people cry.

She hugged me again. I took a step back in surprise, before returning the embrace. She lifted her head and grinned.

"…Friends?" she asked, something hopeful dancing in her eyes.

"Always were," I responded, grinning back. I turned back to the building in front of us. "And just one question," I said.

"Anything."

"What the heck are we doing here?"

* * *

The building turned out to be a small block of apartments. It was dank and dark, the walls were coated with mildew and water leaked from somewhere in the ceiling. Cracks ran through the plaster that looked like it had been laid hundreds of years ago. Gas lamps flickered from random points in the walls. We stood in the doorway, and the ancient door swung shut behind us with the creepiest creak and groan I had ever heard. The place stank of mothballs and rotting food, and as I took a step forward a plume of dust rose from the frayed and patched carpet. Coughing, I turned to Cora.

"Remind me why we're here again?"

She rolled her eyes. "I told you five minutes ago. Zane, Widget and Sludge are living here. After the battle, they decided that they didn't want to live with Hamegg anymore. Not that it mattered; they told me he had disappeared. Zane called me yesterday, an hour or so after everything was over." She added when she saw my questioning glance. "Apparently, Zane's posing as an adult, and Widget and Sludge are his kids. This was the cheapest place they could find… and the dustiest. Who knew the world's greatest robot was allergic to dust?" She remarked as I gave way to a full on coughing fit.

"Not my fault-this place-a-million-years old," I said between coughs and wheezes. We walked up the hallway, me hacking my insides out and Cora restraining laughter, and half failing. Every now and then, a chuckle would escape her clamped lips. I gave her the death stare, mentally telling her that she would be getting it later, if I didn't explode from consumption of too much dust.

Eventually, we reached a reception room, which looked like something from a thousand years ago. An ancient desk took up most of the room, and chairs were placed at random intervals throughout it. They were the type of chairs that looked like they would crumble to dust the moment you so much as touched them. The room was dark too, like something from a horror movie. Cobwebs coated the walls and I swore I saw a giant spider watching us. It was the kind of place you'd expect a vampire to come jumping out at you, or a ghost to float through the wall. I shivered, though the room was stuffy, and not much of a relief from the heat outside. I couldn't wait to get out of here. _Time to cut down on the horror movies Astro, _I told myself.

An ancient old man that fit right in with the rest of the room sat at the desk, half in shadow. He had a cigarette in his mouth and a stack of coffee-stained cards in his hands. He watched us approach warily, his beady eyes catching our every move. His wrinkled, leathery hands put the cards down, and he lent on the desk, placing his chin on them.

"Well well well," he muttered, I think to himself, "what do we have here, Artty? Kids, it seems, two of them, look at their smug little faces, Artty, we don't like them that much do we? Bad Artty! Remember Artty," he scolded, slapping himself, we must not judge people by their lookses, we must not, we must find out what they are like. Mrs Fing says, so she says. We don't like them though, do we?"

This guy had some serious problems.

"Er… sir?" Cora started uncertainly. His eyes bored into her, and she trembled under his unwavering gaze.

"The little girl is speaking to us, she is Artty, why is she doing that? We don't like her speaking, we want her to GO AWAY!" He bellowed the words, and we both jumped a foot in the air. Cora regained her composure, and before the man could open his mouth to continue, she opened fire.

"Well you listen here grandpa! Me and Astro are here to see some friends of ours, and if you hadn't noticed _you're _meant to be the one telling us where to go and what to do and _you're _the one who's meant to act all friendly and nice! If you hadn't noticed, superhero, standing right in front of you," she gestured to me, and I nodded, not wanting to disagree with anything Cora was saying at this state. The man's head turned slowly to me, like some sort of living dummy, one of those freaky clown smiles on his face… OH NO! HE WAS! THIS GUY IS EVIL! OUT OF A HORROR MOVIE! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! SEE YA LATER! ADIOS, AMIGOS! NO MORE! MAKE IT STOP!

Cool it Astro. It's okay. You're over-reacting. I closed my mouth, realising that it was hanging open. And I relaxed. Let it flow, Astro, I told myself. You're only-

"What eez this, Arrrtty?"

NO! IT WAS! IT WAS! VAMPIRES! ZOMBIES! THINGS! RUN! DON'T LOOK BACK! HORROR MOVIES COME REAL! FREAKY PEOPLE WITH FRENCH ACCENTS OUT TO EAT YOU!

Whoever it was stepped out of the shadows. A woman stood there, cloaked in a long black dress and matching cape. Her face was heavy with dark make-up, and black tendrils of material trailed from her arms, onto the floor.

NONONO! MONSTERS! EVIL THINGS GOING TO EAT US AND COOK US! IT'S THE END! GOOD BYE WORLD!

"Astro." Cora hissed. "Quit it. Nothing's going to kill you. You can stop shaking." She shook her head. "And who knew that the world's hero would freak out because of a freaky house and a couple of people?"

I stood stock-still and composed myself, before shooting invisible lasers from my eyes at Cora. She rolled her own eyes and turned back to the people in front of us. I took a few deep breaths, and told myself that I was still over-reacting. I realised that had I had been breathing in short gasps, and that under my breath I had been whispering what had been going through my head while staring wide eyed at the man and woman. I felt my face burning, and wondered if it was as red as I thought it was. Why did this have to happen _now? _And especially, why in front of _Cora? _I shuffled my feet in embarrassment. She was as calm and cool as if she had just gone out to the store to buy an ice cream! And here I was, having a mental breakdown at the sight of a couple of freaky people. I told myself, that no matter what I saw from now on, I was just going to go through with it and not freak out or anything.

Easier said than done.

"Ah, Mrs Fing!" The man said brightly. "Stupid old hag." He muttered under his breath. As he did, his face fell into the light, and revealed a head so scared and revolting, I wondered how it stayed on. Scar tissue had faded, forming what looked like a swirling, black tattoo. Purple and blue bruises coated the remaining area of his head. His skin was a dull white, as though it had not seen the sun for years. Wisps of matted grey hair fell into his eyes, which were an ice blue. I felt my breathing quicken again. This guy was horror itself. He made Frankenstein and Dracula look like a little kids TV show.

"Astro. Calm. Down." I looked at Cora, who was staring transfixed at his head. For the first time, she looked scared.

"Vat vass that, Arrttty?"

"Nothing, miss!" He said hastily. The woman glared at him, utter loathing on her face. She turned to us. Her cold manner instantly vanished, and she spread her arms wide.

"But ve have guestss! Vherrre arre my mannnerrrs? Velcome to Villz Rosa, vhere all you dreams come true!"

"That's likely." I said under my breath. The woman didn't hear me, or acted like she hadn't. Cora half-smiled, though her eyes didn't move.

"Vat eez it you arrrre seeking?"

My head turned to Cora, expecting her to do the talking. But she was still staring at Artty's head, trembling. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the woman. Now that I'd seen the worst, she didn't scare me as much anymore. The whole place didn't, really. But I avoided looking at Artty's head, just in case.

"We're here," I wracked my brains for a possible answer. I gave the first thing that popped into my head.

"My friend here," I said, nodding in Cora's direction, "heard that a distant family member had just moved in. Apparently he's been travelling with his two kids or something, and she wanted to see him." I watched the woman, waiting for a reaction. And I desperately hoped that Zane hadn't disguised himself as a girl.

"Name?" She said dully. I was surprised by her sudden change of attitude. Maybe these guys were monsters intent on eating us, and had thought we had come offering ourselves up for lunch, and had been disappointed to find that we were actually here to see someone. I mentally face palmed.

They are _not _man-eating monsters, Astro. Get that _into your head._

"Er… Zane," I said, unsure of whether he had changed his name or what his last name was.

"Zane Von Williams? Arrived yesterday, with two kids? Long and lanky, moustache and glasses?" She barked. I flinched, but nodded. I had no idea what she meant by moustache and glasses, but it sounded enough like him. And I was surprised to hear that she spoke like a normal person, and that the terrible French accent was just a show. Cora's head snapped up, and she seemed to remember where she was, and what she was doing.

"That's him!" She trilled. Nice of you to come back to earth now, wonder woman.

"Well then," the woman cooed, her quick change in tone making me jump. "You'll be looking for apartment eighteen, my dear. Fifth floor. Can't miss it. S' the one with the big eight and half a one on it. Have a nice day!"

She was all to eager to get rid of us. She was starting to look particularly edgy, and she kept shooting glances across the room at me.

"Don't like them." Artty growled. All three of us jumped, forgetting he was there. Cora froze again, her eyes going wide and her mouth hanging open.

"Now now Artty," the woman chided, "best not scare off the guests now, should we?"

She got a low growl in response, and if looks could kill, she would have been dead in an instant.

"Off you go!" the woman said again. Cora made no move to obey her, and I rolled my eyes and took her arm.

"Earth to Cora," I muttered.

"Wh-what?" she stammered, before her eyes widened again and she grinned and nodded to the woman.

"Thank you for your time!" Cora sounded like someone from one of those cheesy TV commercials or something, where everyone was happy. We started to make our way towards another ancient artefact, this time an old and rotting staircase. It was made of some kind of wood, but the type was unidentifiable because of the dirt and grime that coated it. Cora and I exchanged doubtful glances, before I started going up. I placed one foot on the staircase, and it creaked, which did nothing to reassure my nerves, which were jumping and falling like a bowling ball would do to a bunch of skittles. I took another step up, and Cora made to follow. A loud crash followed, and Cora shrieked. I looked wildly around to try and find the source of the disturbance, but the reception room was still in its old, gloomy horror-movie state. The woman, who had been conversing softly with Artty, looked up.

"Don't mind that," she laughed, "that's just old Matthew. He's been with us for quite some time now. Poor fellow too, not quite right in the head, y'know?" She made circling motions around her ears. "He's been thinking he's Einstein for about a year now, conducting experiments and trying to teach us things. It's actually quite amusing. But, just yesterday…" she shook her head and sighed, as if retelling a story about a painful loss. "He started smashing things, and disturbing the other residents. When I questioned him about it, he told me that he was the Hulk, and that I should move before he crushed me." She laughed again. Cora and I looked at each other in confusion.

"Who's Einstein?" I asked.

"And who's the Hulk?" Cora added. The woman looked at us, a shocked expression on her face.

"You don't know?" She cried, horrified. She sighed and shook her head. "Of course you don't," she murmured, "kids these days, they don't know a thing about their past." She looked up and smiled. "Those two, ahem, _men, _well, man and a half, I guess," Cora and I looked at each other, confused again. The woman continued. "Dated back more then a thousand years ago. They were famous, at their time…" she kept going, but her last words were drowned out as another crash shook the building. So this apartment block housed a guy straight from the underworld, a woman who talked about a thousand years ago as if it was yesterday and another guy who was constantly living some ancient dudes life?

Time to leave!

Cora nodded, keeping up the 'polite' act. I could tell, though, that the last thing she wanted to do was spend another minute in this freak house.

"We'll just be going, then!" She smiled. We were halfway up the stairs, me leading the way and trailing my hand along the crumbling wall, before the woman appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Wait!" she cried. I closed my eyes and counted to three, determined not to go mad, at least not for now. I turned around, and saw the woman watching us, a half smile on her face. "I'm Debrah. Debrah Fing."

I nodded, trying to work out why she was telling us this. It wasn't like we were ever going to see her again… hopefully. She looked at us expectantly, and I realised she wanted our names. Cora had taken the hint before me, and gave Debrah a winning smile. I'm Cora. Cora Liafran."

That was her last name? Liafran? It sounded… nice. It sounded like Cora, I guess. It made me think of what else I didn't know about her. I suddenly realised how desperate I was to ask her about… her.

Debrah turned to me. She raised an eyebrow, and I jumped.

"Oh, I'm, I'm er… Astro! Yeah, Astro… um…" I trailed off, and Cora rolled her eyes. I glared at her, before looking back at Debrah. Artty had joined her. Their faces were stony. They were both watching us, Artty leaning heavily on Debrah. I frowned, wondering why. My eyes travelled down, and I did a double take. Artty had no _leg. _Just a flapping trouser leg that stirred as if blown by some kind of imaginary breeze. I looked around the reception room, and the only windows (all two of them) that were there were had curtains drawn tightly over them, and which let in little light. I let my eyes wander back to the couple below us, and stared in horror at the almost non-human and his vampire-ish companion. I didn't have to look at Cora to know that she had frozen again. Artty's head was in full view.

"We don't let no robots in here." Artty growled. "So you'd best be off now."

Something inside me snapped. I had not come all this way, had a hyper-allergic reaction and had been scared to death to be kicked out by some freaky old dude who probably had amnesia anyway and would forget we'd even been there in the next five minutes.

"Tough luck." I snapped. "And open a window in here. Looks and smells like someone died." I wondered if something _had _died, but ignored the thought and spun on my heel. Both of them looked affronted, I noted with a smile. I reached the top of the staircase and looked down. Cora was was still in the same spot, she hadn't moved. Debrah and Artty had disappeared. Cora looked as if she could double up as an insect catcher, her mouth was open so wide.

"Are you coming or what?" I said, irritated. She shook her head and ran up the remaining steps. We circled around and headed up another staircase in silence, heading for the fifth floor. When we were two floors above the reception area, Cora burst out laughing.

"What was _with _you back there?" She chocked, eyes watering. "You looked like you'd seen a ghost or something! Shaking and jumping about and-" she leant against the wall in a full out laughing attack.

"At least I don't freeze up looking at someone's _head."_

That shut her up.

We finally got to the fifth floor, and it was no different to the rest of the place. The paint was peeling, the carpet was in the middle of being eaten by insects, and two of the doors hung off their hinges. We made our way slowly forward. I turned my head from side to side, looking at the doors. They were on no particular order, in fact, no order at all. We passed a door with a number three on it, and the next one was twenty-eight. We reached the end of the hallway, and looked at each other. I circled back and tried again. Cora stayed where she was, watching a trail of spiders crawl up a wall. Soon, I came to a door with an eight and half a one on it, and rolled my eyes, wondering how we missed it.

"Cora!" I called. Her head jerked up and she ran over. She looked the door up and down, frowning. It was a wreck of a door. I think it might have been green once, but it was hard to tell through all the dirt.

"This place is loved." Cora remarked. I grinned. We stared at the door for a moment.

"Well, are you going to knock?" We said in unison. We both rolled our eyes, and at the same time, raised our fists and jammed them into the door. A dull thud came back at us, and I felt something vibrate along my arm. I looked at Cora, wondering if she had felt the same thing. She had eyes only for the door though, so I turned away. I could hear running footsteps, and someone was swearing. The doorknob jiggled, and we backed away as the door slowly opened with a creak that put the front door to shame. I stared at the person standing there in the half light, who was definitely not Zane.

* * *

"Eloo, I am Zane V-v-von Williaams, 'ow can I 'elp 'oo?"

Nope. Check that. Definitely Zane. And was that an Italian accent? The figure stepped forward. My eyes bulged and suddenly I was howling with laughter, Cora doing the same. We rolled around on the floor, hooting like a couple of five year olds.

"Well, come in." Zane said, folding his arms. We just laughed harder. He growled, stepped forward and grabbed us both. He hauled us through the open door, and slammed it behind him. He turned around to face us, now on the floor of his apartment. Cora got her breath back first.

"Zane, seriously. What is _with _you?"

She wasn't kidding. He was wearing one of those fake nose-and-glasses things, and had a dreadlock wig on. Widget had obviously had some fun too; because I could see a faint smudge of what appeared to be bright red lipstick smeared across his face. And he was wearing some sort of dress. A _dress._

Cora and I collapsed on the floor again. Zane glared at us, furious.

"What are you wearing?" I choked. He frowned and glanced down.

"Don't ask me," he grunted, "ask _her." _He pointed across the room, and I could see Widget and Sludge giggling behind an armchair. "She said," he continued, "that this is what everyone wears in the city. She _said _that this was the latest fashion." He frowned again, as if wondering why people wore such weird things. Cora and I looked at each other, and doubled over again in laughter. Zane had been caught out, big time. Widget was probably getting a kick out of this.

"Zane," Cora spluttered, "_no one _wears clothes like this!" I heard a moan from across the room.

"You _had_ to tell him?" a soft voice said.

His frown deepened. "I should have known." He muttered. "That lady was looking at me funny after all…" he spun around, furious. "Fun." He growled. I heard a shriek from the corner, and a thump. Zane pounced like some kind of animal. He sounded like one too. Cora laughed again half-heartedly. Sludge came running toward us, panting.

"He's gonna kill 'er," he puffed, hands on his knees. He was grinning though, from ear to ear. "We knew it wouldn't take him long to find out…"

"He's going to _what?_"

"Figure of speech Astro," Sludge said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like he's actually going to… oh my god… Astro…"

Was _everyone _going to do this today?

"Er… yeah… what…?" I said, confused. Sludge's eyes had gone the size of tennis balls, ad his mouth hung open.

"ZANE!" Sludge yelled. Cora and I both jumped. "Get over here!"

Zane and Widget both looked up from where they had been trying to strangle each other. Zane got up first, and held out his hand to Widget. She took it, and they made their way over to us.

"What…ah," Zane said, as Widget screeched 'Astro!' and bolted over.

"Whoa," I laughed, as she pushed me over. "Watch it!"

"You're a lot lighter then you look," she giggled, lying on top of me. "Sorry," she blushed. She slid off, and I stood up, and noticed Cora and Zane locked in a fierce hug. I felt an intense wrench somewhere inside me, and I looked away, studying the wall. It was a nice wall. Lumpy and dripping from a leak somewhere, stained with something that looked like coffee.

"Hey Astro," Zane said, clapping me on the back. I turned to him and grinned. It was hard not to. He was still wearing the fake nose and glasses.

"Are you boys gonna spend much longer having your loving emotional catch up or are we going to do something?"

I stopped myself from reminding here that she was the one who had just hugged Zane like she hadn't seen him in years.

"Like what?" Zane asked.

"I don't know," Cora growled, folding her arms, "but I don't think I'm the only one that wants a full Q and A session."

I gulped. I should have known this was coming.

"Ah…" Zane said, eyes widening. "I see…"

"Come on!" Sludge hissed. "I don't want to spend another second in here."

"No kidding," I said, "this place _is _a graveyard.

"Hmph," Widget crossed her arms, "Mr Metro City's first day and he's already an expert!"

We all laughed. Zane pushed open the door, straightening his glasses.

"Let's go, troops!" I looked at Sludge. He shrugged.

"No idea," he muttered. "He's been playing the weird guy ever since we got here."

"Why _are _you here?" I asked. Sludge shifted from foot to foot, biting his lip. "Um…" he was saved by Cora, who chose that moment to yell out to us.

"You boys going to shove it or what?" I looked up to see that the others had already reached the staircase. Sludge and I only stood at the door. Cora growled, her hands on her hips. She reminded me of some kind of animal, ready to kill it's pray at a moments notice.

"Coming Cora," Sludge groaned. "Girls." He muttered. I caught his eye.

"No kidding." We both laughed. Girls were the strangest things on the planet. One minute they tell you they like something and the next they hate it. One minute they think they're beautiful and the next they're in tears, screaming that they're so ugly. I'd never get it. They were confusing and deadly… and they could hit really hard, I absent-mindedly added as Cora slapped my arm. I looked down at it, before looking up at her, nursing her hand, which had turned a bright shade of red.

"Um… sorry…?" I said, smiling apologetically. She laughed and we kept walking down.

"So what are we doing anyway?" Sludge asked.

"Going somewhere better than this." Cora remarked, brushing invisible dust off her shoulder. "To, like I said before, get some answers." She looked at me when she said that.

"Only if I do to." I said slyly.

"What?"

"You tell me your story, I tell you mine."

"YES!" Zane whooped, causing all of us to jump. "Sorry," he said meekly, "but… finally! We can get it out of you!" He poked Cora, who kicked him. "She's never told us what she was doing on the surface, or where she came from or anything." He said to me, disregarding Cora, who was eyeing him like he was her lunch. "She's never had any reason to tell us, and now finally…" he whooped again. We laughed, and Cora rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She smiled. An I'm-just-acting-innocent-for-now-but-later-I-will-kill-you-smile.

"Glad we have an understanding," I said, giving her an equally innocent-evil smile back.

"Nice working business with you," she held out her hand. I took it and shook.

Zane rolled his eyes. "Idiots. HEY!" He yelped as we both kicked him. He went flying down the corridor, slamming against the wall.

"In a bit of a hurry, Zane," Widget laughed.

"Very funny." He growled. "I think you broke my back," he moaned, but stood up and brushed himself off. He leant against the wall and waited for us to catch up.

"Some kick you have there," he said to me.

"Thank you." I said, grinning. "I save it for the special occasions."

"I helped!" Cora said.

"By what, kicking me into the wall?" he said skeptically.

"I did to help!"

"Did so not!"

"Yes I did!"

They kept going. I looked over at the twins, who rolled their eyes. "You get used to it," Widget whispered.

"They're worse then you," I said, and Widget looked at me, insulted.

"Worse! _Worse! _I'll give you worse Astro… um… what's your last name again?"

I laughed, and she tried to keep a straight face, but failed.

"Wanna take the express?" Sludge said suddenly, smiling a smile that told me I did _not _want to do this.

"Okay." I said.

He grinned, and jumped onto the banister. He rocked back and forth for a moment on the dull, chipped wood, before getting his balance and sliding down. He shot past Zane and Cora, who were still arguing. Zane didn't give him a second glance, but Cora turned around and stared in awe. Sludge hit the floor with a thud, and jumped up and grinned. Widget did the same, though more graceful. She whooped as she slid down, before she fell off and rolled down the remaining stairs. Zane laughed.

"Come on Astro," she said, smiling. I could see Cora making her way up, obviously wanting a go. Before she reached the top, I jumped, and everything was a blur of cracked plaster, fading carpet and old wooden stairs. Working out the exact point to jump off which would land me on my feet, I grinned in exhalation while waiting to get to it. This may have been fun, but it was nothing compared to flying. At the last second I jumped off and landed lightly on the floor, on two feet. I heard Sludge moan behind me, and Widget shrieked. I turned around and grinned guiltily. The twins were both standing there with their mouths hanging open, and even Zane looked impressed.

"Ummm… what?"

"Dude, are you serious? You just like, slid down that thing in like, two seconds, and then, like, landed, on like, two feet and like…" Sludge trailed off, at loss for words. Widget was nodding vigorously next to him.

"Ummm…" I said again. My mind was blank. I was saved from having to come up with an answer by Cora, who at that moment chose to shriek, and hurtle down the banister. We all turned out to watch her, her face alive as she sped down. She shrieked again, and laughed.

"Show off," Zane muttered. Cora raced down the remaining banister, flew off at high speed and crashed into me. We fell to the floor. Her face was inches from mine. My stomach fluttered at how close we were. If I had a heart, I knew it would be beating at super speed right now. I could almost hear it, humming in my chest, but I knew that was impossible. _Thump thump thu- stop. _It was incredible, how real it seemed.

"Oh!" Cora breathed, "sorry, um I'll just…" We struggled to get up, but couldn't seem to untangle. Cora giggled, and I felt my face flush. My insides squirmed at the close proximity between her face and mine. We lay in a tangled heap on the floor, both of us trying to get up, before I managed to extract myself and stand. I held my hand out to her, and she took it gratefully. I helped her up, holding onto her hand for what was probably a second longer than necessary. Widget and Sludge were whispering behind their own hands, and Zane was looking away pointedly. I let go of Cora's hand and stepped away, and she did the same. I fingered the hemming on the bottom of my T-shirt, staring at the ground. I could see Cora doing the same out of the corner of my eye.

"Right!" Zane said briskly, "let's be off!"

He marched down the next corridor, Widget and Sludge still whispering and throwing glances over their shoulders behind him. Cora and I looked at each other and shrugged. Zane had his moments. We jogged forward to catch up with them. We walked in silence for a moment. Awkward silence.

"So," I said, just to break the tension, "nice, um, receptionists you have."

"Hm?" Zane grunted. "Oh. You mean Bessy?"

"Bessy?" Cora blinked.

"Yeay. Bessy. Dresses in red, black hair. Granddaughter of the owner."

"Who's the owner?"

"Artty."

"Oh." Cora said weakly. "Right. Artty."

"We didn't meet Bessy. What's she like?" I asked.

"Well," Zane said, "She's nice. Kinda punk. She's seventeen, and her parents left her a fortune in the bank. She's living with Artty until she turns eighteen. I don't think she thinks I'm an adult."

"No kidding." Cora muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing!" She grinned sweetly at him. We had reached the bottom. The reception room was spread out before us, and I had to look again when I saw one of the windows was open. A young woman sat behind the desk, sharpening her nails, which were a bright red. I wondered if Artty and Debrah had been some strange hallucination, because they had vanished, and the woman-who I took to be Bessy- looked ten times more real than they had. Zane adjusted his glasses and wig, before stepping down.

"Eloo mizz Bezzy!" He said. Bessy looked up and frowned for half a second, before she smiled.

"Zane! Nice to see you again." She went back to inspecting her nails. Zane gulped.

"Come one guys," he muttered. We were halfway to the door when a voice called out behind us.

"Are these friends of yours?" What was it with these receptionists? They were so… nosy. We turned around. She was leaning forward slightly; her eyes curious but her face surprisingly blank.

"Er, yeah." Zane stammered, forgetting his accent. "Cora and Astro." He gestured to both of us. Bessy nodded politely to Cora, and her face turned to me. Something flashed across, it, something that looked like greed, or anger. It vanished as soon as it appeared though, and I half believed that I hadn't seen it. But only half.

* * *

"Whew," Cora breathed, "glad we're outta there!"

We were sitting under a tree in one of the parks of Metro City. The sun beat down on us; feeling like it was increasing in heat every second. People still crowded the pathways and roads, and the city thrummed like it itself was alive. People in the park were staring at us. Well, not at us, but at _me. _It kinda creeped me out, but I ignored it for now.

"Astro?"

It was Widget.

"Yeah?"

She looked nervous. She scuffed her feet, fidgety. Sludge stood behind her, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here. Zane had taken off his glasses, wig and dress, and was bouncing up and down on the balls of his heels, arms crossed. They were the only ones standing. Cora was sitting next to me, as confused as I was. Widget took a deep breath.

"We're… we're sorry that we… you see, the thing is, we just want you to know that we don't care that you're a… ah… um…" she was looking incredibly freaked out now.

"Hey," I said, getting up. On a strange and sudden impulse, I hugged her. I felt her jump in surprise, but she relaxed and returned it. "It's okay," I continued, "I'm sorry. It was my fault and I should have told you guys and-"

"No it's not." Zane sounded firm. "If you had told us, who knows what would have happened. Hamegg would have probably done something, don't know what, and we probably wouldn't have gotten to know you and… oh." He blinked as he noticed us all staring at him. He flushed a deep scarlet.

"Thanks." I said softly. They all looked up at me. "For… saying that. And for forgiving me and everything… I guess… it's nice to…" I blushed and looked down. I had tried to say what I wanted to say, but I couldn't get it out. I _couldn't. _I didn't know how to say it. I felt a hand on my arm and looked up. Cora was there, smiling.

"We know," she said softly. "I think," she added, which made me laugh. We sat back down again in the shade of the tree; away from the sun which I think now was trying to murder us.

"So," Cora said, "spit it out. _Who _are you and _why _are you here and _what- _actually, never mind about what." I smiled sadly at her. She was so blunt. Got to the point. Said before thought.

"It's… kind of a long story," I said, but seeing their looks of annoyance, went to continue.

"Everything's a long story mate," Zane said. I ignored him.

"My dad-"

"Your dad? How is that possible? I mean-" Sludge cut off as I sent him a look that said _I'm more dangerous than I look._

"Do you want to hear or not?" I said, annoyed. They stared at me, their eyes wide. "Okay then," I said to myself. "My dad," I shot a look at Sludge, "makes robots. And he had a son and…"

I told them about how Toby had died. About how dad had made me. About how I had discovered what I could do.

"You fell out of a window?" Zane laughed. "Dude that is just- oh. Right. I'll let you keep going."

I told them about how dad had kicked me out, told me what I was.

"And you never guessed?" Cora asked softly. "What you were?"

"Did you?" Was all I could reply. I frowned, and added: "I think I did, I'm sure I knew, I just… didn't want to believe it…" I went on to tell them about meeting them on the surface and everything that followed. About the games. I tried telling them again how sorry I was, but they wouldn't listen. I had to hand it to them. When they wanted something, they got it. Widget asked me what the people from Metro City wanted me for.

"Oh." I said. I wasn't sure how to go about this. "They… wanted my core. President Stone wanted it for his peacekeeper. They needed my dad and Dr Elefun to take it out… so I guess… they brought me to them, and dad took it out."

"Your dad, just, _killed _you? Just like that? Like, poof? Gone?" Cora looked horrified.

"Well, I guess…" I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't like where this was going. "He turned me back on though. Told me he didn't care that I wasn't Toby, I was still his son." Cora looked like she wanted to stress it more, but a withering look from Widget stopped her.

"So… so then… you were battling the peacekeeper?" Zane breathed, cocking his head.

"Er… yeah." I said. Cora looked up, straight into my eyes. A question sparkled in them, and I felt like I was drowning in their endless blue, like I was falling into the depths of her eyes and that if I didn't stay focused, I'd lose myself, forever falling…

"Why?" she asked softly. I broke away from her gaze, finding it difficult to look at her, like trying to look at the sun. "Did you… sacrifice yourself? For us? For everyone? It wasn't your problem, you responsibility…" she trailed off, and I could feel her eyes on me.

"Because… it was," I said slowly. "I'm here to help you, to save you, and I couldn't let anything happen to you without trying to stop it, without feeling guilty if I didn't…" I looked up at them, willing them to understand. "I don't like it when people get hurt," I said softly, twisting a blade of grass around and around in my fingers. "I couldn't bear it if one of you got injured, or-or died… and it was my fault…"

"How could it be you fault?" Cora asked quietly. "How could anything ever be?" I looked away from them, out over the hills, toward the horizon. "That's not what I'm afraid of," I murmured. "It's losing… losing you guys."

"You didn't answer my question though," Cora said roughly. I looked at her, and though she sounded harsh, her eyes spoke for her. I heard a sudden gasp behind me, though, and turned around to see Widget staring wide eyed at the ground.

"You tried to tell us," she breathed, "that night, when you arrived…" Cora followed on, adding to Widgets train of thought. "And then, when we were out on the car…" Nobody seemed to wonder what Cora meant when she said out on the car; they were to absorbed in their own thoughts.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Cora asked finally. She didn't sound angry, or hurt, like I thought she would. She just sounded like she really wanted to know, and she didn't care that I hadn't before. The others looked up, interested. Their searching gazes made me feel slightly uncomfortable, and I wrenched another blade of grass out of the ground, as the other one had broken in two. Winding it around in between fingers, I debated on how I should go about this, how I should say it. Out of nowhere though, the words started to pour out.

"I remember," I started quietly, "before, when-when I was Toby, watching the way people treated robots, the way that I-_he _treated them, taking them for granted, not really caring about them, caring whether they lived or died… I remember them being thrown away as soon as they so much as rusted, and nobody gave a damn about it. They were there to be used, owned… and then, when my dad kicked me out, and told me he didn't want me because of what I… was… and then I met you guys, and all I wanted was for you to like me, to treat me like a _person, _like someone who was like you. I didn't want you to think of me the same way you did other robots. Just conveniently _there,_ for people to use and then forget about… I guess…" I said slowly, "I guess I just wanted to find where I belonged in the world, where I fit in, what my part was in life. Just…to belong somewhere. With someone." I laughed bitterly, closing my eyes. Opening them again and shaking my head, I looked out over the horizon again. "It didn't really matter though. Not in the end. Because somehow, you were going to find out, and I should have realised sooner." I looked up. Cora had on an expression that was similar to being hit on the head with a baseball bat. Zane was opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Widget looked ready to cry. Sludge, however, smiled sadly.

"But… it's fine now." He said. "You're here -alive- and we're all fine with it and everything and… yeah… and… yeah." I laughed, stretched and fell back onto the grass. It was soft and cool, a relief from the heat.

"What about you?" I asked, looking at Cora. "Cough up." She laughed -though she still looked slightly shocked- and settled into a more comfortable position, her chin resting on her knees and her arms hugging them.

"Well…" she started, but Zane interrupted. "We know it's going to be a long story, so just get on with it and then maybe it won't be. Please," he added as Cora narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She tossed her head. "Right. Hopefully now that _some _people," she glared still harder at Zane, "won't feel that they have to interrupt, maybe I can get going…" She did it all very well, the tone of her voice, the pauses and expressions. She sounded like a presenter or something, announcing the star act of the show. "Eight years ago-"

"Hang on," Sludge said, frowning, "how old are you now?" Cora rolled her eyes.

"Geez Sludge, keep up with the times. I was fifteen last week." My head reeled, and I blinked a couple of times. Cora was fifteen?

"So… Sludge said, "you were…" he counted on his fingers, "seven?"

"Yes Sludge, now if you would please let me continue you might all not have to suffer painful deaths today." I snorted, and Zane laughed. Looking pleased with herself, Cora continued.

"Eight years ago, I left my parents. I ran away. Arrived on the surface. The end."

"No fair!" Zane moaned. "You gotta give us the whole thing!"

"Yeah," I said, "I did, you did. Tell us."

She frowned. "I'll get you back," she muttered darkly. I sat up; amazed that she had caved in so easily. Cora took a deep breath, and avoided our eyes.

"This is what happened…"

* * *

**OMG! I DID NOT JUST DO THAT! DID I? Hahaha ooooo poor Cora, bit cut off are ya love?**

**KK. down to business. *puts briefcase on desk* Now, my friends, you will discover the incredible power of ME and... what was I doing again? I think this evil side's getting a bit out of hand, could'ya tone it down a bit?**

**Evil me: Soz love.**

**Me: Now then... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED, READ, SKIMMED OVER OR EVEN JUST CLICKED ON THE CHAPTER AND WENT 'NAH' AND WALKED AWAY! THANK YOUUUU! SO MUCH!**

**Again I have cut this chapter short, there's actually another bit to it, what's the point of having a story plan if you don't follow it? *chucks story plan in bin* Ok... Cora and Astro meet, self-explanetory... WHY Zane and them are living in that freakhouse will be explained later... oh and yes, you can judge on looks, Debrah and Artty are complete whacko weirdos :) You will see Debrah again, minor spoiler, but Artty unfortunately dies, very sad, very sad... *laughs evilly* Astros allergic reaction, well, I kinda thought, what if Tenma was feeling mean and gave him all those things like hay fever and stuff that everybody hates? Hahaha YOU ARE AT MY MERCY BOY-ROBOT! And then getting freaked out and all, just natural instincts... I can tell you now, not a pretty picture, that place...so anyhoo, thats the chap, LALALA! WOHOOO! Thank you again to readers and reviewers :D and have a good rest of the weekend! And, just cos I'm feeling evil... DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD THE WITCH IS DEAD! DING DING THE WICKED WITCH IS DEEEAAAADDD! Hahaha stuck in your head yet? No? No? OPPA GANGNAM STYLE! *dances* until next time... *dances* MWA HAHAHA! :) WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? *stops dancing* Wait... what does happen next? Dammit *dives into bin***


End file.
